Many chemical production processes produce by-product streams. These streams must be handled in some way. In some cases, these streams have historically been routed to waste and disposed of by, for example, deep welling or incineration. As a matter of efficiency, environmental stewardship, and process economics, it is usually desirable to minimize the size of the waste stream.
In a production scale distillation of 1,6, hexanediol ("HDO"), millions of pounds/year of by-product stream can be produced. Some production facilities store this stream in railcars (or other vessels) on the site until the streams can be handled properly. Not only do the vessels take up valuable space, railcars are often rented thereby adding to the cost of the product.
One of the fractions in the distillation of 1,6 hexanediol is referred to as "distillation heavies". It currently has little commercial value and is often used as fuel for steam generation. This stream represents a significant portion of the by-products from 1,6, hexanediol production. For example, in a typical 15M lb/yr hexanediol plant approximately 5.0 million pounds/year of distillation heavies might result. Reduction of the stream to useful products would, therefore, mean significant savings all around, i.e., environmentally, economically, efficiency, etc.